Indefinite articles

Considering their ubiquity, it’s perhaps surprising how little academic attention has been afforded to sticky tape, rubber bands, buttons, combs, keys, sweets, wires, and handkerchiefs over the years. But now the position has changed, with a new work from Steven Connor, Professor of Modern Literature and Theory at Birkbeck College London. His book – Paraphernalia : The Curious Lives of Magical Things “…embarks on a historical, philosophical and linguistic journey that explores our relationships with the curious things with which we have a forgotten but daily intimacy.” – say the publishers. Or, as the professor puts it in a recent interview on professor Laurie Taylor’s ‘Thinking Allowed’ programme, (BBC Radio4) “Our entangledness in matter will never go away” (starts at 14 minutes in)
Professor Connor has also written extensively on :
• Plugs
• Sand
• Knots
• Smoke
• Obnubilation (i.e. clouds)
• Men in Skirts
and much, much more. Full list here

Posted by Martin Gardiner onMonday, July 11th, 2011 at 12:02 am
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